Coastal highway: Land buyers fault Winhomes Estate CEO’s claim

By Lydia Chigozie-Ngwakwe

Some land buyers on Winhomes Estate, Okun-Ajah, Lagos, which was impacted by the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway construction, have demanded full possession of the plots, asking the estate’s original owner to steer clear.

They said on Friday that Winhomes Global Services Ltd., owners of Winhomes Estate, had already sold the plots to them and no longer had any interest in the plots.

One of the buyers and Chairman of SFL Properties Ltd., Mr Banji Alabi, said the company bought 70 plots of land measuring about 41,000 square metres for N1.7 billion from Mrs Stella Okengwu, Winhomes Global Services Ltd. Founder and Chief Executive Officer.

Alabi said the company carried out due diligence before buying the property and confirmed its authenticity at the Lagos State land registry at Alausa, Ikeja.

He said Okengwu’s continued claim to the plots and demand for compensation from the Federal Government for using a part of it for Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway construction were faulty.

“We are investors and we invested in this property. We bought 70 plots of land which is about 41,000 square metres at the cost of N1.7 billion.

“We have the contract of sale, the deed of assignment and receipts issued by the seller. The documents were duly signed by Mrs Stella Okengwu,” he said.

According to him, the company conducted a search and verified the documents before making payment for the plots.

Alabi, however, alleged that the seller concealed important information concerning the land.

“What happened is that the woman concealed material information from us.

“We were not aware that there was any issue with the Federal Ministry of Works regarding the land,” he said.

He added that the company had made efforts to reach the seller regarding the issue, but they had been fruitless.

Alabi called on the public and relevant authorities to compel the seller to return to Nigeria to answer questions on the matter.

Also, the General Manager and Chief Operating Officer of SFL Properties Ltd., Mr Olusesan Odeyingbo, said the company bought about 4.7 hectares of a total of 12.07 hectares owned by Okengwu.

Odeyingbo said the purchase was backed with evidence including receipts, contract of sale and deed of assignment.

“From records available to us, the total land area is about 12 hectares. The portion taken for the road project is less than four hectares.

“From the remaining land, we bought 4.7 hectares which is about 47,000 square metres at the cost of N1.7 billion,” he said.

He noted that the documents confirming the transaction included receipts of N800 million, N500 million and N400 million issued by the seller.

Odeyingbo said the company also had a letter of acknowledgement and necessary land transfer documents.

“As far as land transaction is concerned, once a contract of sale, deed of assignment and other transfer documents are executed, the ownership has been transferred.

“She has divested her interest in the land and sold it to third parties, so she has no business laying claim to the property again,” he said.

Odeyingbo added that the company had written to the seller after a court struck out her case against the Federal Government, saying that she no longer had legal standing over the property.

He said the company had moved to take full possession of the land.

Earlier, the Federal Controller of Works in Lagos, Mr Olufemi Dare, said the realignment of the highway was done to prevent demolition of more than 300 buildings.

Dare said that marking of buildings on the right of way was carried out jointly by officials of the Federal Ministry of Works and relevant Lagos State Government ministries and agencies.

He listed the ministries and agencies to include Lagos State Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, Ministry of Physical Planning, Lands Bureau, and the Office of the Surveyor-General.

He said the Minister of Works, Sen. Dave Umahi, later visited the area twice before directing that the road alignment should be moved closer to the shoreline to save the buildings.

“The realignment brought the road to a location close to the ocean which belongs to the Federal Government.

“ This decision helped to prevent the demolition of more than 300 buildings,” Dare said.

He also dismissed an allegation on social media that he advised Okengwu to pay N200 million as bribe to Umahi.

“Those are social media talks. They are not true. I challenge anyone making that claim to bring evidence,” he said.

Dare further dismissed a claim that there were no communication cables buried in the original alignment.

He said the project alignment was deliberately shifted after it was discovered that critical submarine internet cables were buried on Chainage 25.

According to him, damaging the facility could disrupt internet services in Nigeria and several other African countries.

“If anything should happen to it, Nigeria and about five other countries will not have internet services.

“There are many submarine cables that came through the water and are buried here. This is a very sensitive zone,” he said.

According to Dare, the cables are managed by MTN Nigeria and linked to the Medallion Data Centres internet gateway.

He said the road alignment was therefore moved about 150 metres away from the cable landing point to protect the infrastructure.

“This is Nigeria’s internet gateway. The cables land here before they distribute connectivity across the country and to other parts of West Africa.

“That is why the Presidency directed that the road must be shifted far away from this place,” Dare said.

He added that the cable landing station served systems such as the West African Cable System, supporting internet connectivity in the region.

Dare urged journalists to independently verify the presence of the cable landing station and other facilities in the area.

“You can also confirm from MTN and other operators that this is a major internet gateway for Nigeria,” he said.

On possible action against Okengwu for alleged false claims, Dare said the matter would be handled at the appropriate level.

He noted that an earlier court case she filed against the Federal Government had been struck out.

A representative of the project consultant, Mr David Yussuf, who is a Consultant Estate Surveyor and Valuer with Vic Uko and Associates, said the firm carried out extensive evaluation of the land.

Yussuf said that when the firm inspected Winhomes Estate, the only structures found were a perimeter fence and a gatehouse.

“From our evaluation of the land, what we met on the site were just a fence and a gatehouse. Those were all that existed there,” he said.

(NAN)